Capital STEM Alliance Newsletter – May 2022

STEM Student working on a project

CCL Regional Network

  • The Capital STEM Alliance Executive Steering Committee will meet on Thursday, May 12 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. via zoom. Agenda items to be discussed include core values, vision/mission statements, and near-term goals as the Alliance grows and evolves.
  • Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council is excited to share news of two Career Preparation cohort graduations in partnership with the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce.
    • The first graduation took place in Rochester on April 22nd. This Underground Communication Construction Training Program began on April 11th and ran for 10 days. Students were able to certify in Directional Drill Maintenance & Operations, Ladder Safety and Mini Excavator Maintenance & Operations. This training will provide students with skills to join the underground communications industry.
    • The second graduation takes place at The Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton on April 29th. This was a 4-week Construction Bootcamp that began on April 4th. In this Bootcamp, students were trained in knowledge of shop skills, power tools, fitness, professional development, and trades math. Students were also able to get certifications in Forklift, OSHA-10 & Flagging which provides them with the skills to be competitive for an apprenticeship.

Congratulations to the graduates of these cohorts!

  • Timberland Regional Library has re-opened/will re-open three branches:
    • Monday, April 25 – The Shelton Timberland Library reopens after a major refresh – new flooring, new paint, new furniture, and layout.
    • Monday, April 18 – Naselle Timberland Library joins the McCleary Timberland Library, offering expanded access hours to library cardholders 18 years and older to opt into accessing the library before and after staff/open hours. Patrons can access both these libraries from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
    • Monday, May 16 – Ocean Park Timberland Library, Packwood Timberland Library and Hoodsport Timberland Library join Naselle Timberland Library and McCleary Timberland Library, offering expanded access hours, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily!
  • Thurston Chamber of Commerce is recruiting for a new Thurston Thrives Director. The Director will be accountable for the advancement of the Thurston Thrives initiative, from high-level strategic thinking to day-to-day coordination. Key responsibilities include: • Provide leadership to facilitate interdisciplinary and cross-sector teams. • Work with initiative partners to address a common agenda • Build and maintain relationships with initiative partners, decision makers, and funders. • Connect and perform outreach with hard to serve and historically disadvantaged communities. • Develop and implement a communication plan to effectively communicate partnership objectives and progress to external audiences • Use the collective impact model, sustain, and develop an appropriate operating framework to guide ongoing implementation of the initiative. For more information, please visit this link to the job posting.
  • Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT) is offering highway construction and maritime trades scholarships. WSDOT’s On-the-Job Training Support Services Program (OJT/SS) and Pre-Apprenticeship Support Services Program (PASS) provide pre-apprenticeship, training, preparatory, and apprenticeship scholarship opportunities to support the participation of women, minorities, and other disadvantaged individuals in the federal-aid and state funded highway construction and maritime workforce. The application window will close June 1, 2022. Awards are made as funds are available, on a first come, first serve basis.Single scholarship award amounts will not exceed $7,000, and the total award amount for a single individual will not exceed $10,000 in up to three (3) separate awards. If you have received a scholarship previously, and are still in a training program or apprenticeship, you may apply again by submitting a new application.

    Scholarship opportunities are available and include the following highway construction and/or maritime trades training/preparatory programs:

    • Laborers
    • Carpenters/Pile Drivers
    • Electricians (Inside Wireman)
    • Cement Masons
    • Painters
    • Truck Drivers (CDL-Class A)
    • Diesel Mechanics
    • Iron Workers
    • Heavy Equipment Operators or Mechanics
    • Able Body Seaman (AB) preparation programs (above deck)
    • Marine Engineering Technology training programs (below deck)
    • Ordinary Seaman (OS)
    • Other trades or training programs related to highway construction and/or maritime programs on approval

Awards may be applied to tuition, preparatory program costs, books, and supplies. Other needs identified by the applicant may be approved and are subject to approval based on authorized funding criteria set forth within each program from which the scholarship award will be made (OJT/SS or PASS). For more information, please click on the link below:

On-The-Job Training Support Services Highway Construction Trades Scholarships | WSDOT

STEM Network

  • The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education announces Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) Mission 17 to the International Space Station. This opportunity gives students across your community the ability to design and propose microgravity experiments to fly in low-Earth orbit on the International Space Station (ISS). Experiments are designed to real world engineering and technology constraints imposed by the flight certified mini-lab that must be used, and the nature of flight operations to and from Low Earth Orbit. One experiment in each community will be selected to fly to ISS on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in FL. Your experiment will launch from historic pad 39A, the same pad from which all Apollo missions to the Moon launched, and 82 Space Shuttle missions. Astronauts aboard ISS will operate the experiment 4-6 weeks before it is returned to Earth and to your community’s student flight team for analysis. SSEP is not a simulation. We are truly inviting your community to be part of America’s Space Program.A community can also engage hundreds of students in mission patch art and design competitions, with two patches selected to fly with the flight experiment. SSEP is therefore an authentic STEAM initiative. Given we are still in the 50th anniversary years of the Apollo missions to the Moon, we invite communities to use their mission patch competition to also celebrate the Apollo missions.

    An important consideration – the expectation is that a team of educators in a participating community will engage at least 100 grade 5-12 students (more typically 300+) over 9 weeks of experiment design and proposal writing spanning September 1 through November 2, 2022. Students across the community form teams of 3-5 students, each team designing a microgravity experiment in a science discipline of their choice. Each team writes a formal proposal to make the case for why their experiment should be selected for flight to ISS. Your students will be engaged in a very real research proposal competition, focusing on technical writing, just like professional scientists and engineers. The expectation is that you will secure at least 20-30 flight experiment proposals across your community. A national review board meeting in Washington, DC, will select the flight experiment for your community, and do the same for each of the other Mission 17 participating communities.

    The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) provides a fully authentic research competition as a STEM Project Based Learning experience. Launch of the Mission 17 flight experiments is currently projected for Spring 2023. Mission 17 occurs across the 2022-23 academic year.

    For complete program details, and how to explore this opportunity for your community, read the SSEP Home Page:
    http://ssep.ncesse.org, or contact Dr. Jeff Goldstein, Center Director at the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE).

  • Washington STEM Rising Stars are high school freshmen, sophomores, or juniors who identify a girls/young women, who embrace STEM education, and who explore STEM in ways that will support their education, career, personal development, and the development and needs of others. The Rising Star Awards highlight girls who will become the next generation of STEM leaders. Their accomplishments are inspirational for the people who nominate them. Each STEM Network nominates their top Rising Star candidate to represent their region. This year, the Capital STEM Alliance is thrilled to recognize Christine Zhang, a 10th grader from Olympia High School, as our region’s nominee for the Rising Star Award. Christine was nominated by Olympia High School Teacher and Librarian Ms. Stacy Udo. Selections of final awardees will be made by Washington STEM on April 20.Congratulations to Christine and to Ms. Udo for nominating her as this year’s Capital region Rising Star!
  • Early Math materials and resources are under development thanks to a partnership between the Capital STEM Alliance and Timberland Regional Library. The Library plans to create and make available up to twenty backpacks filled with fun and engaging early math activities, games, Magnatiles®, Tiny Polka Dots® kits, and other resources to selected communities throughout the Capital region. The ESD113 Teaching and Learning team will align early educational resources to these materials to support best practices in early Math in Head Start, ECEAP, and other early education centers. The backpacks will go into circulation in mid-September.

RALLY

  • Mason County Consortium for Student Success: Join the Shelton Arts Commission for this great opportunity to fill “Empty Bowls” throughout Shelton and Mason County. Create, enjoy with friends, and support your neighbors in need. You’ll be able to unleash your inner artist by creating a unique ceramic bowl to keep! All supplies are provided by the Shelton Arts Commission. Open to everyone, all ages are welcome! Empty Bowls occurs over 3 separate evenings:May 4, 5 – 7 p.m.: Create a Bowl: Put your creative cap on and roll up your sleeves, because it’s time to create your bowl!

    May 11, 5 – 7 p.m.: Glaze Your Bowl. It’s time to glaze your bowl creation.

    May 18, 5 – 7 p.m.: Soup and Bread

    Donate $10, get a bowl to keep and enjoy some delicious soup and bread from one of our participating restaurants (full list coming soon). All 3 events are at the Shelton Civic Center. Busy or can’t make it to one of the nights? No worries! We’ll have extra bowls available each night. All proceeds will be donated to The Saint’s Pantry Food Bank.

    • The Shelton Family YMCA presents Healthy Kids Day, on April 29 from 2:30 – 5:30 p.m. at the Shelton YMCA. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please check out this flyer.
    • The Shelton Youth Connection is hosting an Open Mic night on April 29 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. The Youth Connection is located at 123 S. Second Street in Shelton. For more information, contact Amanda Oakes, Outreach Coordinator at 360-968-3033.
  • Lewis County Thrives
    • WSU’s “Facilitate the Awesome” is a great opportunity to learn about teens, to practice effective ways of communicating with them and motivating them. Spaces are limited, register early! Link: https://tinyurl.com/Spring22FTA. For more information, please visit this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090b48aba92eaaf85-facilitate2
    • Pac Mountain has an agreement with the Department of Commerce to provided pre-and post-release wrap around transitional services with a focus on workforce development through peer support, to justice-involved individuals in the PacMtn region and releasing from juvenile justice institutions. This project, Community Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) focuses on a holistic scope of services. The goal of the project is to allocate funding to connect each individual participant trough case management to as many services as possible, including barrier removal, for a smooth transition with lasting stability. For more information, contact Kendra Moore, Program Coordinator, at [email protected]. To apply to the program, please visit this link: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/f4e8899f06394d0e915367a96812bcdb
    • The Equity Institute will hold its El Dia de los Ninos event on June 4, in the Red Pavilion, from 12:00-4:00 p.m. at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds in Chehalis. Activities fall into three categories: jobs, community, and children and include a summer reading program, and scholarships to summer activities and summer camp. For more information about the Equity Institute, please equity.institute.